


Carry Me Home From the Sea

by eosaurora13



Category: Black Sails
Genre: M/M, Pacific Rim AU, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 05:33:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7832323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eosaurora13/pseuds/eosaurora13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Flint was one of the best jaeger pilots in the program until he lost his partner Thomas Hamilton to a Category 3 kaiju named Knifehead.  He left the service only to be brought back five years later to help in a last ditch effort against the Breach.  He manages to fit back in but one man, a Mr. Silver, is a huge thorn in his side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

James Flint needed to fight. In the years he had spent in the service of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, he had grown accustomed to fighting the world and fighting to defend it. But the world had no need for him to fight anymore; with his copilot lost to the Pacific Ocean he had given his life to defend, James was useless, adrift.

Without any other skills to his name and the very core of his being crying out to do _something_ , James could only chase shifts along the Wall of Life the UN was funding to protect the western coast of America. When completed, it would run from northern Alaska down to the tip of South America. The work was dangerous, especially the shifts at the top of the wall, and the only pay was hot food – ration packs mostly – and a roof over your head when you slept.

Those in charge of the Wall’s construction were as corrupt as the politicians who approved it. They did not pay the workers half of what they were owed and offered no compensation if a worker got injured on the job. The conditions were only slightly better than what James imagined hell would be like.

Yet still he worked. He had nothing else to live for and if he fell – when he fell – there would be no one that would notice, no one to miss him. He could leave the world as quietly as he desired.

The work drove him back up to Alaska, where he had lost himself over five years prior. The sheer proximity to that darkened his thoughts and he recklessly took an available shift at the top of the wall. 

As long as he didn’t fall to his death, he could stay here longer than a week. A week without moving, without dragging his meager belongings to another work site.

He couldn’t complain too loudly.

Three of four days after he had taken the shift – after fourteen long hours trapped in the biting Alaskan winter wind – an alarm blared over the wall, its eerie wail echoing strangely through stone and concrete and steel. He glanced up from his work soldering two metal beams together, trying not to shiver at the sound. It signaled the end of the day shift and he was all too thankful for it despite how lonesome it sounded, high and shrill and empty. He slid down one of the metal poles that formed the frame of the massive wall that would supposedly protect the inlands from a kaiju attack.

He had his doubts. 

The kaiju had increased their attacks in recent years, both in the sheer amount of attacks and in the size and ferocity of each kaiju. A wall, even one as giant as this was proposed to be, would not stop one no matter how those who commissioned them claimed they would. Even jaegers now struggled to beat them back. More often than not, when news reports played in the barracks, they heard of yet another kaiju attack and yet more jaeger pilot deaths.

He wrapped his threadbare jacket closer in a futile attempt to keep out the chill as he joined the throngs of workers heading into the barracks to settle down with a meager meal and what might pass for a decent night’s sleep on a pallet almost as hard as the concrete floor.

He pushed his way through the gathered crowd, those of the day shift not already crawling to their sleep pallets, around one of the small televisions in the mess hall to listen to a report of another kaiju attack – in Sydney this time.

Sydney, where the United Nations had erected the first Wall of Life.

“That thing tore through the wall like is was nothin’,” one of the workers muttered, to which several bemoaned why they were slaving away and dying to build this one.

James had neither the energy nor the heart to tell them that death was inevitable. He only half listened to the rest of the broadcast, an exposé on the new jaeger that brought the kaiju down: the _Ranger_ , the first and only Mark V, piloted by Hal Gates and Billy Bones. He registered Gates’ name and glanced up, finally intrigued.

Gates stood in the background as the reporter spoke to Bones – Flint shook his head at the name, clearly not the boy’s real one.

Bones was answering a question about why the _Ranger_ was relocating to Hong Kong but James watched Gates’ reactions, proud but exasperated. He had served with Gates in Manila in a rare two-jaeger drop but he couldn’t recall the name of Gates’ former copilot – he wondered what happened to them.

“They don’t give two shits about us,” someone muttered. “Ending the jaeger program the way they did.”

Of course, the UN didn’t care. Any fool with eyes could see that. But those in charge of the PPDC did – they needed the jaegers for something. If James knew anything about the remaining marshals, they wouldn’t let the program die without giving it a proper sendoff. However, since it no longer affected him, he pushed the thought from his mind as he downed the rest of his gruel and curled up on his pallet and tried to sleep.

Kaiju stalked his dreams.

The next morning, he had already forgotten about the _Ranger_ – work on the wall required all of his attention – so he did not immediately find the helicopter landing outside their work camp anything more than a curiosity. 

Until he saw Eleanor Guthrie step down from it, her gaze sweeping over the camp, aloof and proud.

Eleanor Guthrie, the daughter of Richard Guthrie, the marshal of the Hong Kong Shatterdome. She was every inch her father’s daughter.

She strode forward into the barracks as if she owned them, her eyes scanning the crowd until she saw him. “James McGraw. You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you.”

James smiled wryly – the last time anyone had referred to him as “James McGraw” he had still been a pilot. “Miss Guthrie. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I have a proposition for you. Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”

He led her deep into the bowels of the wall, letting the almost deafening din of construction serve to drown out their conversation. “Step into my office then,” he quipped, climbing into a giant concrete drain. 

Eleanor let the silence stretch almost uncomfortably.

“If you don’t have anything to say to me, Miss Guthrie, I need to get back to work. I’m only paid for the time I’m in the rig.”

She sighed. “I have spent the last six months activating everything I can get my hands on. There’s an old jaeger, a Mark III – you may know it. It needs a pilot.”

That drew him up short. “I highly doubt I was your first choice.”

She smiled coldly. “You are my first choice. All of the other Mark III pilots are dead.”

James blinked. He thought he had kept up with how badly the effort was going but to have lost all of the Mark IIIs? “I’m not in the best position to help you, in case you weren’t aware. 

She waved off his protest. “We can work around that, if you’d be amenable.”

It took him a moment too long to wrap his mind around what she was suggesting. “No,” he replied without hesitation. “I will help your effort some other way if you’ll have me but I will not do that.”

For a brief second, her façade slipped and he saw the frustration and fear that drove her. “James, we’re fighting a losing battle. Pilots are dying faster than we can train them and now they’ve cut our funding. You and I both know these walls can’t stop a kaiju – what happens when there are no more jaegers to fight them?”

He shook his head. “You don’t know what it’s like.”

She laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “To what? Watch someone you love die? My father died from a heart attack while I was in the room with him.”

“It’s the not the same and you know it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

James felt his mouth curl up in an unpleasant smile. “When you feel someone die, when you feel a part of yourself _die_ – ripped out at the seams – and leave only emptiness behind, then we’ll talk.” He leapt to the ground. “I’m sorry, Miss Guthrie, I can’t help you.” He started to walk away – 

“The world’s ending, Mr. Flint!” Eleanor shouted. “So where would you rather die? Here? Or in a jaeger?”

He stopped midstep. The proposition held far more appeal than Eleanor could ever know. Hating himself for even considering going with her but knowing he had no other option, he sighed. “I’ll inform the foreman.”

She nodded, a victorious smile slowly spreading across her face.

James spent the next twenty-four hours on a cargo plane, wondering if it wouldn’t have been better to have stayed at the wall and died in some horrible accident. He handled the rocking of the jaeger, even any travel by sea, but planes? He had the worst airsickness of any person he knew. 

Maybe that was why he had joined the Navy before joining the jaeger program.

Every time he glanced over at Eleanor, she either met his gaze and smiled or she was gazing out the tiny window to watch the Pacific Ocean, the source of all their problems, stretch out like a blanket of blue beneath them.

“What did you do to make the powers that be agree to bringing me back in?” he asked at one point to get his mind off the rolling of his stomach.

Her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

He took a deep breath. “I could have stayed on with the program even after…” His voice trailed off. “But they cut me loose.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes. She sighed. “If I’m being honest, it never came up because I didn’t fucking ask them.”

“You would risk everything on a gamble that you can’t even be sure will pay off?”

Eleanor leaned forward in her seat, ignoring the turbulence that rocked the plane. “I don’t really see how I had a choice. I could gamble in the hopes of gaining a potential asset or I could have stayed in Hong Kong, in which case I would have been stuck with a jaeger and unable to use her. That isn’t something I could remotely consider.”

Another jolt rocked the plane. James grabbed at the bulkhead to steady himself.

Eleanor smiled. “If anyone thinks your history is a problem, I’ll deal with them.”

When they disembarked the plane in Hong Kong, the sky unleashed a deluge worthy of Noah. They dashed to a waiting helicopter, managing to only get slightly wet.

The helicopter flight across the bay was far less turbulent and much, much shorter. 

As they approached their destination, James stared out at the giant structure built into the hillside overlooking Hong Kong Bay. To house machines as giant as jaegers, Shatterdomes were, by their nature, enormous – an impressive feat of engineering in their own right. The rain had not let up by the time they landed on the helipad but an assistant wielding an umbrella bigger than she was offered them its shelter to retreat indoors.

Eleanor led him into a freight elevator, one that he had to guess was as old – if not older – than he was. “I’ll give you a tour of the facility first then Mr. Silver will show you to your jaeger.” 

Before James could reply, or ask who Mr. Silver was, and before the assistant could close the doors, a frantic voice cried out, “Hold the door please!”

Without thinking, James reached out and physically kept the door from closing as three people, soaking wet, dashed into the elevator. The first thing James noticed was the stench of wet clothes – he and Eleanor probably smelled no better.

The man who had called out said, “Thank you so very much. The rain just will not let up.” He shrugged out of his rain jacket and slung it over his shoulder. “Stay back, if you would be so kind. Kaiju specimens are, by their nature, extremely rare.”

James took one step back and examined the tanks he hadn’t even noticed were on the elevator. Filled with a noxious, almost glowing, yellow liquid, they stood taller than him. 

One of the man’s companions smiled at James. “You may look, if you want, but we would ask you not to touch.”

Between her genuine kindness and lilting French accent, James had to smile in return.

Eleanor had stilled at their entrance, a mask of professionalism in place. James had to wonder what manner of history she had with these three and how it would affect her ability to run the ‘dome. He tucked that information away to investigate later. 

“Mr. Flint, this is our research team. Jack Rackham –“ Eleanor motioned at the man “- and his colleagues Anne Bonny and Max.”

“Mr. Rackham,” James began.

“Oh no,” Rackham interrupted. “Call me Jack, please. Only my mother referred to me by my last name, God rest her.” He turned to the third member of the team, the one introduced as Ann Bonny. “Anne, dear, these are human beings. At least try to be friendly?”

Bonny raised her head so her face was visible from underneath her broad rimmed hat and grunted something James couldn’t catch.

Max patted James on the shoulder. “It is all right. She will warm up to when you have been here a while.”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he didn’t intend on being here that long.

The assistant, Eme she finally told him, took his duffel bag to where he’d be stationed during his stay. 

Eleanor led him off on a higher floor than the research team. As they walked away, he found his gaze drawn behind him to the elevator sinking still lower into the base. “ _That’s _your research division?”__

__“Things have changed. The Defense Corps no longer has the authority it had under my father.” She followed James’ gaze. “They’re all we can afford at the moment. Sadly.” She reached a hangar door and punched in an access code. “We’re not an army anymore. A few more losses and we won’t even be much of a resistance.”_ _

__The doors slid open._ _

__“Welcome to the Shatterdome.”_ _

__James walked inside, his attention drawn too many places at once – the people bustling around as they delivered supplies or scrambled to perform maintenance on the giant machines housed before him, the machines themselves, the thrum of electrical equipment. It was all too familiar and felt, disturbingly, like home._ _

__His very soul cried out for this._ _

__Except the most important piece was missing._ _

__He glanced around to distract himself from the thought, spotting the giant timer over the door he had just walked through. It counted up instead of counting down._ _

__“The war clock, “Eleanor explained. “We reset it after every kaiju attack.”_ _

__It read just under thirty hours. “How long until the next one?” he asked._ _

__“Not even a week and that’s if we’re lucky,” Eleanor muttered. “They’ve been getting more and more frequent.”_ _

__“What does your research team have to say about it?”_ _

__She frowned. “Nothing good.” She strode into the bay, leaving James scrambling to catch up to her. “When my father ran this, we used to launch over thirty jaegers out of five bays. Now, we only have five, one of which we still have no pilots for.”_ _

__James stilled. “How can you only have five left?” he demanded._ _

__Eleanor spun on her heel. “Because they refused to build new ones. Because the fucking kaiju have grown smarter, more resourceful. They’re bigger and they pack a punch. You might have been the first casualty but God knows, you weren’t the last.”_ _

__“I had no idea,” he murmured._ _

__“Well, now you do.”_ _

__They continued further into the bay, Eleanor naming the jaegers as they passed them. The _Andromache_ and the _Royal Lion_ , James knew only by reputation. They had been legends even when he was a pilot, their crews respected and highly skilled. The _Ranger_ marked the Shatterdome’s newest addition._ _

__James stared up, openmouthed, as the techs rolled her into the bay. Mostly chrome, she stood taller than any of the other jaegers. Excitement bubbled up, beat his heart faster – he couldn’t wait to see her in action._ _

__“There’s a sight I never thought I’d see,” Hal Gates called out, walking over, a broad smile on his face. “So they finally dragged your sorry ass back into the fight?”_ _

__“It appears that way.”_ _

__Gates chuckled. “You remember we served together once.”_ _

__“I do. That was a hell of a mission – one for the books.”_ _

__Gates pulled him closer. “I am sorry about Hamilton. He was a good pilot.”_ _

__James narrowed his eyes. This was not a conversation he wanted to have here, in front of all of these people. “Yes he was.”_ _

__Eleanor saved either of them from saying anything further. “Mr. Gates, I know you and Billy have had a long journey. Go get some rest.”_ _

__Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, Gates nodded and dragged Billy with him._ _

__Eleanor turned to James. “As for you, you’re free until Mr. Silver can show you your jaeger. He has where you’ll be bunking – he should be able to find you.”_ _

__She called over one of the support staff and told him they would see him where he needed to go._ _

__He followed them through the bowels of the base, down twists and turns of metal halls and corridors. A couple more times walking those paths and he would be able to travel them as well as someone who had worker here their entire life._ _

__His guide pointed down one final corridor, said that his cabin was three down on his left._ _

__He thanked the man and strode down the final few steps. His door was ajar, a younger man with black curly hair rummaging through his belongings. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”_ _


	2. Chapter 2

The man scrambled to his feet, startled at the anger in James’ voice. Though he glanced at the door fearfully, planning an escape should it become necessary, he did not seem remotely remorseful. “I was told the marshal was taking you on a tour of the facility,” he said in place of an explanation.

James’ blood boiled. “And you thought that gave you the right to go through my things?” He didn’t have much but it was all he had and all he had left. It was his alone.

The man shrugged. “The door was open.” As if that was all he needed to say to excuse his actions. He laid a handful of pictures on the cot; the top one was of James and Thomas after their first kill – exhausted but smiling.

James saw red. How dare this weasel touch the one thing he had left of that part of his life, the only part of life that he remembered with any fondness at all? “Get out of my cabin.”

The man stepped forward hesitantly and scooted around him, pressing as close to the wall as he could. He threw a look over his shoulder as he walked away that James couldn’t be bothered to decipher. 

He swung the door shut, cringing at how loudly it creaked – the resistance couldn’t afford WD-40 apparently. He glanced around at the small space, far smaller than his quarters in Juneau but far more luxurious than anything he had had on the Wall. 

Hell, this was a five-star hotel compared to some of the barracks he had lived in.

A cot stretched against the back wall, leaving no space at either its head or its foot. The small TV screen on the far side of his room blasted a news report from Sydney, where citizens were protesting – no, they were rioting – against the retirement of the _Ranger_.

Coverage switched to an American politician spouting lies as he offered platitudes to angry gatherings of citizens – the Americans seemed to hold the most sway in the UN and were primarily responsible for shutting down the jaeger program but James had seen that the British representative had also voted to end it. Despite everything that had happened since, he was glad he had left.

He sat on the cot next to his duffel bag and halfheartedly started unpacking its contents. Between the rationing and living on the Wall, his belongings had slowly dwindled until all he owned could fit in that one bag. In a way, that was the most depressing aspect of what his life had become – he had nothing to his name, nothing for anyone to remember him by.

The pictures the man had removed were still on the cot. James reached for them and flipped through them absently, remembering the moment each photograph documented. He had been happy once, before life and a fucking kaiju had ripped it all away.

Trapped, alone in his cabin, he realized how lonely he was – how little he had in his life. No friends, no one to talk to. He knew no one on this base – Eleanor was now his commanding officer, Gates only an acquaintance. 

The intruder, whoever he was, was an annoyance at best.

He almost curled up on the cot in abject despair. It had been a mistake coming back here, to think this could be home again.

A knock on the door pulled him from those thoughts.

He wasn’t expecting anyone. Eleanor had left him to his own devices and he knew of no one else that might have a demand on his time.

Wincing at the scrape of metal against metal, James opened the door to reveal his intruder. In the deepest, darkest parts of his mind, James might admit he found the man attractive but something about his attitude left a sour taste in James’ mouth. Of all the people James wanted to interact with in that moment, this man was not on the list. “What do you want?” 

The question came out brusquer than intended, the man’s eyes widening slightly in surprise that he quickly and expertly masked behind an easy grin. “Well, if you weren’t busy, I thought I’d take you to see your jaeger,” he replied smoothly. “But since I’ve caught you at a bad time…”

James tried not to groan. When Eleanor had mentioned a Mr. Silver, he certainly had not pictured this cocky, self-assured asshole – only pilots tended to reach this level of arrogance. He would have given his left leg to have wiped that smile off the man’s face but he kept his voice neutral when he asked, “I assume you’re Mr. Silver then?”

The man – Silver apparently, since he did not deny the name – only grinned wider. “That all depends.”

It was a clear attempt to turn the encounter to his favor and James realized it as such – for some reason that only irritated him further. He would play the game though if that’s what Silver wanted. “On what?”

“On how tempted you are to kill me.”

James smiled coldly. Silver must have been used to easy targets – he would find that James was not so easy. “If I wanted you dead, you would already be dead – I could not care less what your name is. Anyone can show me my jaeger.”

“Maybe they can,” Silver agreed, puffing up with pride. “But they don’t _know_ your jaeger. I do. Besides, I fear Miss Guthrie far more than I fear you.”

“And why the fuck should that matter to me?” James demanded.

Silver answered, “Since, as a jaeger pilot, you, and everyone else on this base, answers to her.” He met James’ gaze evenly, fearlessly. “And since she doesn’t take insubordination kindly, I would assume it does matter to you.” He pushed himself away from the doorframe and crossed his arms.

James regarded him for a moment, loathe to admit he had a point. “Lead the way then.”

Silver’s smile didn’t fade – he wouldn’t be so easily beaten either – but something shifted in his eyes, an acknowledgment of the challenge presented. He motioned down the hallway. “After you, _captain_.” 

James retreated into the cabin to retrieve the key and ensured that the door locked behind him. Silver’s knowing smirk at the action skittered across his skin but he reined in any comment he could say on the matter. If Silver was Eleanor’s pet project, James couldn’t touch him and Silver was probably all too aware of that.

He didn’t have to make it simple or comfortable though.

As they walked back into the jaeger bay, Silver said, “You seem rather cross with me.”

James glared at him but didn’t reply. 

“If you don’t tell me what I did wrong, I won’t be able to fix it,” Silver pointed out cheekily.

All rational thought leaving him, James rounded on Silver, backing him against a wall. “I shouldn’t have to tell you what you did, you shit.” He would have loved to have pressed a knife against Silver’s throat just to show how serious he was. 

Silver swallowed visibly.

Good. 

James looked him over. “Did no one teach you not to invade others’ personal space?”

That shit-eating grin was back before he could blink. “They tried. Apparently, it was as effective for me as it was for you.”

James couldn’t decide if he approved of the comeback or if he wanted to hit Silver for it but he stepped back nonetheless. At the very least, this give and take, cat and mouse interaction stretched his brain in ways he hadn’t known since Thomas had died. “Surely this isn’t your entire job?” he asked finally. “Showing old has-beens like me around?”

Silver’s expression faded into something curious, almost pained, but he hid it away quickly enough that James couldn’t be sure he had seen it at all. “Of course,” he answered easily. “It’s a very in-demand job.”

It was the biggest lie James had ever heard but he wouldn’t deny Silver his secrets. Some people didn’t have it in them to be pilots and joined the program any way they could. Whatever way Silver had managed to convince people to let him take, James had to assume he was at least halfway decent at it since Eleanor hadn’t killed him yet herself. He matched Silver’s grin with his own, enough to make Silver shift his weight back. “Don’t let me stop you then.”

They did not return to the main bay where he had left Eleanor. This base was more haphazardly constructed than the one in Juneau, created hastily out of necessity, pieces and hangars added as they were needed. After the hundredth turn, James was thankful at least for a guide. 

The hallway opened up into a bay and every ounce of oxygen left James’ body. Everything fell away – the bay, the bustle and noise, Silver, all of it – as the jaeger filled his view. Of all the machines he expected to pilot, the _Walrus_ had not even entered his thoughts. The last time he had seen her, she was a massive pile of twisted metal half submerged in the Pacific. To see her now, she looked brand new. 

In a way, he was envious.

“James Flint,” an all too familiar voice said at his back.

He closed his eyes, Miranda’s voice taking him back in time almost as much as seeing the _Walrus_ had. James couldn’t count the years since he had last seen her but he still remembered her standing alone in the rain as he fled Juneau after the hospital had released him, after the program had released him. “Hello, Miranda,” he whispered.

Miranda walked up beside him, leaning against the railing. “It’s been too long,” she replied, equally soft.

Finding his voice, James nodded up at the Walrus. “She looks good.”

“She’s better than new,” Miranda informed him, a hint of pride in her voice. She loved that jaeger as much, if not more, than he and Thomas had. “A double core nuclear reactor, solid iron hull, forty engine blocks per muscle strand, and a new fluid synapse system. She’s one of a kind now.”

“She always was.” Silver was all but forgotten as they embraced, both trying to hold back the pain and tears.

“Where have you been, James? Eleanor told me you had even changed your name?” Miranda looked up at him, eyes glistening. 

James heard the question she was really asking: why did you leave me alone – I was grieving too? 

It wasn’t a question he could answer so he hugged her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Silver coughed loudly. “Since it seems I have fulfilled my obligation and would hate to interrupt your _moment_ any more than I already have, I will take my leave.”

James opened his mouth to snap back but Miranda placed a hand on his chest, calling out over her shoulder, “Thank you, Mr. Silver.” She smiled up at James as Silver made a hasty retreat, chuckling to herself. “You should see your face. What has he done to have already earned such ire?”

He met her gaze, even though he was all too aware of Silver bounded down the iron stairs and how he gripped the railing a little too tightly. “He was breathing.”

Miranda burst out laughing, taking a step back to allow her entire body to move with her laughter. “I have missed you.”

James choked on his reply.

They left the _Walrus_ in her bay, James following Miranda wherever she decided to walk, and they spent the time catching up. Miranda had stayed on in Juneau until the UN had cut funding, forcing the base to close – she had moved to Hong Kong even though their marshal, Edward Teach, had disappeared in a fit of anger. According to her, he hadn’t been seen or heard from since. Eleanor hadn’t initially wanted to take her on – she already had the assistance of Mr. Scott – but her technical expertise, both with the neural handshake program and with kaiju detection, spoke for itself. Each drift, each jaeger launch, was under Miranda’s control and watchful eye.

James glossed over the worst of his experiences on the Wall: the nights he had gone without sleep, that he had considered stepping off the beam he was working on; the days he hadn’t worked and hadn’t gotten any rations; the myriad of burns he got from soldering; the storms that buffeted the coast that he had to work through if he wanted to eat. But Miranda still knew. She understood him, sometimes better than he understood himself.

They would have been great copilots if Miranda could have survived piloting a jaeger.

“Why did Eleanor bring me here?” he finally asked. The question had been weighing on him but he had had no one to ask.

Miranda sighed. “I don’t know how much I’m supposed to tell you but she has a plan to go after the breach.”

James blinked, too shocked to react further. “With only four functional jaegers? That’s suicide.”

The sadness in Miranda’s eyes confirmed those suspicions. She explained what the attack plan was – that the _Ranger_ would deliver a 1.5-megaton nuclear bomb and drop it into the breach. The other jaegers, the _Walrus_ included, would run defense in case of a kaiju attack.

“We’ve dropped bombs at the breach before,” James protested. “They’ve always bounced off. Why does Eleanor think it will work now?”

Miranda didn’t have an answer. “She has you scheduled for combat trials at 0600 and that is all even I know.” She gripped his shoulder. “You need food and rest, James, especially before tomorrow. We’ll talk later – I promise.” She pointed him in the direction of the mess hall and returned to her post in LOCCENT.

The mess hall bustled with activity as everyone grabbed food at the end of their shifts. Mechanics sat next to pilots who sat next to LOCCENT techs. They were a giant family, one that James felt like he stood outside of and could only look in on.

He grabbed a tray full of food, most of which he hadn’t seen in over a decade. There was real bread and chicken and pork. And fresh fruits and vegetables – not vacuum packed rations.

Gates appeared at his shoulder. “Come and sit with us, man. You look like you’re about to fall over.” He waved away James’ protests. “There’s plenty of food at our table.”

He hadn’t lied. The amount of food laid out on the table far surpassed what James had on his plate. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen real food,” he said.

Gates grinned. “Hong Kong’s an open port. No rationing.” He nodded at his copilot. “This is Billy – well, William Manderly. We’ve been riding together about four years.”

James swallowed a too-large bite of mashed potatoes and extended a hand.

Billy stared at it and continued eating.

Despite the slight, James took no offence and went back to his own plate. His stomach was far more important than a pilot with his head so far up his ass he could say hello to his small intestine.

Gates growled something under his breath at his copilot, which seemed to get the younger man’s attention.

Billy nodded in James’ direction. “I hear you’ll be running point on our mission.”

James grabbed another plateful of roasted vegetables. “That’s what I hear too.”

“Gates says you were one of the best pilots before you left,” Billy said. 

Something in his tone finally grabbed James’ attention. He didn’t want to defend what had happened with Thomas but he would if it came up. “Is there something you want to say?”

Billy shrugged. “You’ve been out of the service for what – five years? And what have you been doing since then? I doubt you were piloting jaegers.”

That Billy would doubt his abilities came as no surprise. If James were honest with himself, he doubted his abilities too. He wasn’t sure he could get back inside that cockpit and let someone who wasn’t Thomas in his head. Sometimes the simple truth was the easiest answer. “I was a welder. On the Wall.”

“Well, that’s great. When a kaiju comes at you, you can blowtorch it to death.”

“Billy!” Gates hissed.

“Now, my old man here seems to like you but I don’t want someone like you watching my back. Not on this mission.” Billy grabbed his plate and walked off.

Gates leaned over the table. “You can blame me for how that one turned out,” he admitted. “His parents were killed in a kaiju attack about fifteen years ago and I took him in – it kept him out of the foster system. He’s a good kid but I never could figure out whether to give him a hug or a swift kick in the ass.”

James glanced up to where Billy had disappeared before looking back at Gates. “I hate to say it, but I think we both know which one he needs.”

He finished his meal quickly and bid Gates a good evening. Though it took him close to an hour, he found his way back to his cabin without assistance and his explorations yielded good results aside from a confidence in his ability to find his way around. He found the research department’s lab, their quarters, Eleanor’s quarters, LOCCENT, all of it; he now had a working map of the base in his mind.

He didn’t immediately shut his cabin door once he found it but instead kept his attention on the comings and goings of people through the hall as he more purposefully unpacked. 

The door across the hall scraped open, then closed, and James glanced up to see Silver staring at him. 

Silver slipped on an grin and sauntered over. “How did you like your jaeger?”

As if he hadn’t been there and hadn’t witnessed James’ reaction firsthand. 

“She was my jaeger long before you knew what the word meant,” James retorted, walking over. He crossed him arms and physically blocked his doorway. “What the fuck do you want?”

Silver shrugged. “We’re neighbors. I was trying to be friendly.”

James glared down at him, the couple of stairs leading to his cabin giving him the advantage of height. “I assume the you failed to learn what that meant at the same time you failed to learn about not going through other people’s belongings?”

Silver’s grin wilted, determination taking its place. “We’re stuck together at least for the next couple of weeks while the world ends. We might be friends before that happens.”

James only smiled. “Watch the sky for pigs, Mr. Silver. I hear they might be flying soon.”

Silver snapped him a half-assed salute before retreating down the hallway.

James watched him leave, the upper hand he had gained over him feeling far too hollow a victory.


End file.
